# Your Top 10 Favorite Albums, Take 2



## Ether's Bane (Nov 4, 2012)

The old thread, for anyone who would like to see how much their music taste has changed.

Try not to include "greatest hits"-type or multi-artist compilations, if possible.

Mine looks something like this:

1) Oceanborn (Nightwish)
2) The Heart of Everything (Within Temptation)
3) Mother Earth (Within Temptation)
4) Inhuman Rampage (DragonForce)
5) Trespassing (Adam Lambert)
6) Piece of Mind (Iron Maiden)
7) For Your Entertainment (Adam Lambert)
8) Valley of the Damned (DragonForce)
9) Superunknown (Soundgarden)
10) Angels Fall First (Nightwish)


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## Bulbamew (Nov 4, 2012)

1. Revolver - The Beatles
2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
3. Abbey Road - The Beatles
4. The White Album - The Beatles
5. Exile on Main Street - The Rolling Stones
6. Favourite Worst Nightmare - Arctic Monkeys
7. Whatever People say I am, That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys
8. Urban Hymns - The Verve
9. Nevermind - Nirvana
10. In Utero - Nirvana


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## Tarvos (Nov 4, 2012)

Good god how do I even solve this.

1. Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones
2. Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
3. Pink Floyd - The Wall
4. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
5. Rammstein - Rosenrot
6. Sofia Karlsson - Norr om Eden (EP)
7. She Wants Revenge - S/T
8. The Cure - Disintegration
9. Pixies - Surfer Rosa
10. The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten

But that will be different tomorrow. I prefer songs to albums anyways.


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## Vipera Magnifica (Nov 4, 2012)

1. Tool - Lateralus
2. Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
3. Pink Floyd - The Wall
4. Devin Townsend - Ziltoid the Omniscient
5. Agalloch - The Mantle
6. Dream Theater - Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory
7. Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
8. Gojira - From Mars to Sirius
9. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
10. Opeth - Still Life

I looked at the old list. Wow, that _was_ pretty different.


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## Tarvos (Nov 5, 2012)

Your list could be my list three years ago.

(Although I would argue that Blackwater Park is better than Still Life, I honestly prefer Images and Words and Awake to Scenes, The Way of All Flesh is better than From Mars, etc.) Can agree on the Devin pick.

I don't like The Mantle apart from the album cover (prefer other albums) and SW's first album was better. Gonna hand you the Mars Volta one although I again prefer De-Loused. 

(They're all good albums but I would not pick them as my favourite).

And Kevin Moore will always beat Rudess for Dream Theater.


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## Vipera Magnifica (Nov 5, 2012)

Tarvos said:


> Your list could be my list three years ago.
> 
> (Although I would argue that Blackwater Park is better than Still Life, I honestly prefer Images and Words and Awake to Scenes, The Way of All Flesh is better than From Mars, etc.) Can agree on the Devin pick.
> 
> ...


Arguably, yes, Blackwater Park is Opeth's best album. I still think Still Life is on par with it, and personally, aside from the sound quality, it has a slight edge over it. In terms of the album I've listened to the most, that would be Ghost Reveries, but that's another story.

Nowadays I'm getting kind of bored with Dream Theater's albums, but I&W, Awake, and Scenes are all good. Picking a favorite Gojira album is hard, considering they are all fantastic. The Way of All Flesh is probably the one I've listened to the most.

I'm still positive The Mantle is far superior to Agalloch's other albums. Pale Folklore was very good, despite the audio quality. Ashes Against the Grain had some good songs, but overall didn't really work for me as an album. Marrow of the Spirit I haven't actually listened to at all. 

I still love Insurgentes (was just listening to it in fact) but Grace for Drowning seems a bit more progressive and experimental. I could say the same for Frances the Mute (though De-Loused has many stand alone songs on it that are arguably their best, namely "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt").

I find it interesting your #2 and #3 were the same as mine. (I do find it hard picking a favorite PF album though. It usually flips between Wish You Were Here and The Wall, but honestly they're all great.)


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## Minish (Nov 5, 2012)

huh, mine have changed, I guess! many of those are just nostalgic to me rather than really really great.

1 Rurutia - Water Forest
2 Noe Venable - The World is Bound by Secret Knots
3 school food is punishment - Prog-Roid
4 Spangle call Lilli line - Purple
5/6 Kanno Yoko - Arjuna into the another world & Arjuna onna no minato (can't choose. they are both the loveliest largely-instrumental albums I've ever heard. she is great.)
7 Emilie Simon - Vegetal
8 Noe Venable - The Summer Storm Journals

aaaa& then um. two old nostalgia picks. like Utada Hikaru's Ultra Blue and, say, Frou Frou's Details.

I really want to put something by Vienna Teng here, she is A* but her best stuff is so spread out :cc


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## Tarvos (Nov 6, 2012)

> but Grace for Drowning seems a bit more progressive and experimental. I could say the same for Frances the Mute (though De-Loused has many stand alone songs on it that are arguably their best, namely "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt").


this is code for boring. Steven Wilson is better when he keeps to what he does best - prog music in a format we can all stomach, not smearing it out over 20 minute long tracks that go nowhere. Also Insurgentes leans very heavily on a post-punk background and things like Joy Division are important - which means it's much simpler and easier to stomach as opposed to Grace which uses jazz musicians and whatnot to bore me to tears.

(I didn't like Grace for Drowning at all).

As opposed to most people all my favourite Porcupine Tree tracks are from his pop era (except Lazarus, fuck Lazarus I am sick of that song), with a few notable exceptions on In Absentia, and some isolated masterpieces like Russia on Ice / Arriving.


I have to mention here though that for me a good album is basically a collection of good individual songs. The only time it's important to judge an album as a whole is if it's an intended concept album (see The Incident) but 9/10 times that just means excess wank and overwrought playing and the return of leitmotifs (which can be fun if you do it right, but is bad when overused).

F.e. I love Muse but they haven't done a single satisfactory album - it's just songs scattered among all the rubbish.


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## Vipera Magnifica (Nov 6, 2012)

Welp, okay, but I loved GfD, just so you know.

EDIT: Yeah, most of my favorite albums are concept albums. I enjoy them more if they flow together as a whole.


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## Tarvos (Nov 6, 2012)

I used to love them, but the problem is I have not listened to that stuff in forever and the other problem is that despite me loving those albums it was never about the technicality of the playing - the songs had to be good. And as I've grown older the novelty of it being heavy/different/technical has worn off to a very big extent, meaning that very few of those albums, barring Pink Floyd, still hold my interest.

And double albums are always too much. I can't listen to 90 minutes in one sitting, sorry.

I'll give you an example: my favourite Dream Theater song is Space-Dye Vest. And the reason is that it is an excellent, subtle song that relies on nuance and atmosphere to get its point across. Kevin Moore was good at using his keyboards to render exactly that. Rudess and Dream Theater was a bad fit imo in terms of songwriting - Rudess is as gifted as the rest of the lot (if not more), but that leads to him wanting to play too many notes where he needs to shut the hell up.

Metal having the problem that they always want to play too many notes anyway.


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## Vipera Magnifica (Nov 6, 2012)

Still, many of the bands I enjoy don't really "write songs" so much as they just play music and record albums. You can't really listen to Godspeed You! Black Emperor in the same way that you'd listen to most other music.


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## Tarvos (Nov 6, 2012)

Which is why I would just put Godspeed You! Black Emperor on as background music. I have to say that I enjoy GY!BE when I hear it because it's very forceful and atmospherical - but it's not really interesting enough to hold my attention for 90 minutes (hence my favourite is the Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada EP). I would put that on while I am typing up an essay or something.


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## Datura (Nov 6, 2012)

10. Fiona Apple, _The Idler Wheel..._
9. Theatre of Tragedy, _Aégis_
8. Tori Amos, _From the Choirgirl Hotel_
7. Tori Amos, _The Beekeeper_
6. Curve, _Doppelgänger_
5. Tori Amos, _Boys for Pele_
4. My Bloody Valentine, _Loveless_
3. Johnny Hollow, _Dirty Hands_
2. Tori Amos, _To Venus and Back_
1. Tori Amos, _Scarlet's Walk_

or something

I don't know

WHATEVER


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## Tarvos (Nov 7, 2012)

little earthquakes.

if you're gonna go tori go little earthquakes


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## Datura (Nov 8, 2012)

Tarvos said:


> little earthquakes.
> 
> if you're gonna go tori go little earthquakes


You have no idea what you're talking about.


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## Tarvos (Nov 8, 2012)

yes, I do


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## Minish (Nov 8, 2012)

Yeahhhhhh... that's the only Amos I've ever been able to really get into.


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## Datura (Nov 9, 2012)

Cool?


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## Tarvos (Nov 9, 2012)

*Ice Cube* cool!


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## Minish (Nov 9, 2012)

Well don't monopolise a thread into a one-on-one conversation then!


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## Datura (Nov 9, 2012)

lol maybe the other side should stop being condescending as hell at every opportunity


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## Vipera Magnifica (Nov 10, 2012)

So, lately Animals has been my favorite Pink Floyd album.


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## Tarvos (Nov 10, 2012)

Animals has a good section during the song Sheep. I don't remember much else than that, haha


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## Vipera Magnifica (Nov 10, 2012)

Dogs, man. Dogs is the best song on Animals.


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## opaltiger (Nov 10, 2012)

I have to admit, I am really not a fan of Animals. Several of the non-Big-Four albums are better (Meddle, Atom Heart Mother, The Final Cut...).

ETA: Though you're right. Dogs is pretty good.


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## Pig-serpent (Nov 11, 2012)

I'll attempt this and see how different this is in a month.
Anyway, in no particular order...
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 by Coheed and Cambria
Clockwork Angels by Rush
Moving Pictures by Rush
Pyromania by Def Leppard
Leftoverture by Kansas
Move Along by the All American Rejects
Boston by Boston
(becomes hard here)
Avenged Sevenfold by Avenged sevenfold
Alpocalyspe by Weird Al
Second Stage Turbine Blade by Coheed and Cambria

yeah, there are some amazing songs where I haven't heard the full album.
In other news, Pigs has always been one of my favorite Pink Floyd song (and not just because of the name).


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## Teh Ebil Snorlax (Nov 15, 2012)

Hmmm, mine has changed somewhat since last time.

_Illinois_ by Sufjan Stevens
_For Emma, Forever Ago_ by Bon Iver
_The Age of Adz_ by Sufjan Stevens
_Bon Iver, Bon Iver_ by Bon Iver
_The Division Bell_ by Pink Floyd
_Born Villain_ by Marilyn Manson
_Everybody Jam!_ by Scatman John
_Wish You Were Here_ by Pink Floyd
_Scatman’s World_ by Scatman John
_Funeral_ by Arcade Fire


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## Keltena (Nov 18, 2012)

Assuming I a) stick to one album per artist, and b) go with my personal favorite albums rather than the ones I think are objectively the best...

1. Waking Hour by Vienna Teng
2. The Glass Passenger by Jack's Mannequin
3. Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos
4. Mother Earth by Within Temptation
5. Raindancer by Erutan
6. Come On Come On by Mary Chapin Carpenter
7. Burning the Days by Vertical Horizon
8. Plans by Death Cab for Cutie
9. Ladies of the Canyon by Joni Mitchell
10. Maroon by the Barenaked Ladies

...I get something along the lines of this. Which works well enough.


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## Minish (Nov 18, 2012)

Keltena said:


> 5. Raindancer by Erutan


Oh yay! She is great. c:


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## opaltiger (Nov 19, 2012)

I am going to do my very best not to just list albums by artists I like, but rather albums I like as a whole. And only one per artist or it would be about half Pink Floyd.

1. Wish You Were Here/The Wall by Pink Floyd; usually the former, but it changes.
2. Trans-Europe Express by Kraftwerk
3. WAT by Laibach
4. The Cost of Living by Jason Webley
5. Red by Guillemots
6. Closing Time by Tom Waits
7. In the Wake of Poseidon by King Crimson
8. Horses by Patti Smith
9. Cocktail by Marko Brecelj
10. aaaand I'm running out. Maybe The Black Halo by Kamelot? Though I haven't listened to it much lately.


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## Dungeons (Jul 28, 2013)

1. Rise Against - Endgame
2. Rise Against - The sufferer and the witness
3. Three Days Grace - One X
4. Breaking Benjamin - We are not alone
5. Escape the Fate - This War is Ours
6. Adelitas Way - Adelitas Way
7. Skillet - Collide
8. Breaking Benjamin - Saturate
9. Skillet - Awake
10. Escape the Fate - Dying is your latest fashion


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